Thousands of ancient Buddha statues unearthed
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E-mail Xinhua, March 20, 2012
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A Buddha head unearthed in Hebei. |
Chinese archaeologists in the northern province of Hebei in January unearthed nearly 3,000 Buddha statues that could date back about 1,500 years.
The discovery is believed to be the largest of its kind in the country since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, an archaeologist with the Institute of Archaeology under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) said at a press conference on Monday.
A team formed by archaeologists from the CASS and the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage in January found 2,895 Buddha statues and statue fragments in a 3-meter-wide, 1.5-meter-deep pit at the historic site of Yecheng, an 2,500-year-old ancient city located in what is now Linzhang county, said Dr. He Liqun, a member of the team.
The Buddha statues, mostly made of white marble and blue stone, could date back to the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi dynasties (534 AD-577 AD).
The statues, some of which are painted or gilded, are sized from 20 centimeters long to the size of an actual person, said Zhang Wenrui, an official with the provincial cultural heritage bureau.
Yecheng was first built in the Spring and Autumn period (770 BC-476 BC) and served as the political center of China during the Three Kingdoms period (220 AD-280 AD) and the Northern dynasties (386 AD-581 AD).
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